“It’s nice out there!”
So proclaimed one of the bosses after walking in from outside.
The afternoon was partly sunny.
The temperature was a balmy 18 F.
Or -7.77 C.
Nice? Say what?
This is weather relativity after several days of bone-chilling, below-zero wind chills. I had been wearing long underwear, two pairs of socks, long-sleeved T-shirts under heavy sweaters, and not-so-cute-but-warm boots for much of the week. The many layers are necessary to keep from shattering teeth into a million tiny pieces.
This is when I dislike the term “frozen tundra,” given to Wisconsin in the throes of Old Man Winter. Actually, the term was given to Lambeau Field many years ago during a sub-zero football game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. The Packers won with a quarterback sneak, but I’m sure both sides were ecstatic when the game was over and they could make their way back into a heated building.
Getting back to weather relativity…
Have you ever said, “Gosh, it’s cold outside!” when it’s 52 F (11 C) and raining?
Then, in the spring, “What a beautiful day!” when it’s 40 F (4.4 C) and sunny?
Or are those temperatures cold for your part of the world at any time of the year?
Do you whine when summer heat and humidity gets out of control?
And then yearn for same at the first glimpse of cold winter weather?
When is it too hot? 80 degrees F (27 C)? 90 degrees (32 C)? 100 degrees (38C)?
When is it too cold? (Someone in Siberia or Antarctic can answer this question.)
According to one dude at church, it can’t be cold enough or gray enough this time of year. He loves winter. He doesn’t mind the short, dark days. One of the ladies standing near asked if he was a mole. I asked if he was a vampire. He shrugged and smirked.
Whatever dude.
Anyhow.
I suppose one could say that 18 F is relatively nice for January 20th in Wisconsin.
Although, the forecast of 30 F on Sunday is relatively nicer.
And, relatively speaking, a warm, sunny summer day of 75 F is nicest.
When I can ride my bicycle.
What is weather relativity in your part of the world? Is the warmth of spring as welcome as the warmth of summer? What temperature do you consider too cold? Just right? Too hot?
Mary J Melange 
Okay, here it comes….
Anything over 40 degrees Celsius is too hot. Actually, anything over 35C is too hot but over 40C is just plain nasty. That’s a do-nothing day (at least for those of us not blessed with air conditioning).
Even in winter, anything in single digits is too cold. If we had a maximum daytime temperature that was sub-zero, it would make the front page of the newspaper.
On relativity terms, in summer sub-20C is cold and in winter over-20C is warm.
There you go. 🙂
Well, H, you’ve summed it up very nicely for Australian weather. I had to laugh, though, about a sub-zero winter day making the paper. That’s an expectation around here. We hate it, but know that we’ll have at least one or two or three days during the winter that don’t get above 0 (polar vortex not included).
I stopped complaining about the weather after we logged the coldest month ever recorded last February. I took the spring rain, the summer heat and humidity and the cool breezes of fall in stride. I don’t like being cold, but I can usually get warm. I don’t like being hot, and I can’t always cool off. I’m not sure what that means, other than Florida is not in my future. I too like to ride my bike, but not when it’s hot and humid. I don’t remember that football game, but I’m glad you beat the Cowboys…just sayin.
I’ve tried not to complain about cold since that frigid winter two years ago. Anything is warmer than that. And Florida? Perhaps during the winter months, but I don’t believe I’d like their summer heat and humidity. I will probably stay in Wisconsin when I retire and simply stay home when the temps hit below zero.
As for that game, it is infamously known as “The Ice Bowl.” Bart Starr won the game with his QB sneak.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NFL_Championship_Game
Thanks for the link. What a game! I do know of its history, but I wasn’t making the connection. Going on to beat the Raiders in the championship only makes it better in my book!
There’s a teeny tiny biker chick piece of me that wants to be a Raiders fan…ONLY so that I can dress like a bad a**.
Yeah, it’s kind of hard to be bad a** when wearing a cheese hat 🙂 I’m guessing that there’s no part of you that wants to be a Dallas fan.
Nope, none.
Any temperature below 20ºF is too cold for me. So naturally I’ve always lived where Winters go down to zero… cause that’s how life works, right? I try not to dream about how lovely Spring temps will be because I fear a I’ll just curl up in a ball on the floor and not move until then. I live my Winters with blinders on. What cold weather?
That’s the attitude…what cold weather? THIS is why we love spring so much, because we learn to appreciate warmth after suffering the coldest days of winter. Plus, I think it makes us stronger 🙂
No truer words…
Yes, winter has finally arrived this month after an unusually glorious fall, but it’s no where near as heinous as the last 2 years, so I’m not going to utter a single complaint (outloud). I grew up in the north and actually walked to school (a kilometer) at -55C. That’s -55C with no windchill. It’s the coldest I have personally ever experienced.
I would be over-the-top happy if summer temperatures were in the 25C range … over 30C is just wrong. Maybe that’s just because we get humidity with the heat.
Winter? That’s complicated. I would rather have cold than snow, but how cold? … well, when it gets below -20C, I’m not having fun.
I don’t believe I have ever experience -55C in the winter. It may have been -30 or -35 F, but that’s even too much to handle. Obviously, you survived your walk to tell about it, which is a good thing.
I am opposite when it comes to cold v. snow. I’ll take the snow in moderation. When we get a foot at a crack, like we did in December, I’m not having fun either.
I guess that’s the bottom line, isn’t it? Moderation. If only we were in charge of the weather …. 😉
Don’t hate me but I hate the summer. Way too hot, sweaty, and humid. Swamp ass weather of NYC summer is not fun.
No, I don’t hate you, Phil. Don’t like the humidity of summer myself, but I will take a dry 75 or 80 any day.
I like it colder. If it would stay 50 all year I would love it.
You should have been Canadian! 😉
I enjoyed reading the comments, Mary.
You know me … no matter the time of the year, I walk out the door without checking the weather.
Weather just is, and I adapt. I know that annoys people, but that’s the way it is for me.
Hang in there … You will indeed be riding soon!
You have a great attitude about the weather. I was actually enjoying the fluffy snow that fell last night. It was beautiful!